Performance Engineering & Advanced Materials

Wales has a global reputation for its high-end engineering, founded upon its quality suppliers within the aerospace as well as automotive sectors, and backed by world-class research facilities within its network of centres of excellence.

Major performance engineering and materials companies based here include Timet, which makes titanium parts for jet engines, High Torque Fasteners, Henrob (riveting technology) and Quadratec (wind tunnel designers).

And industry and academia regularly combine resources to take the sector forwards with collaborative projects.

• Swansea University is a Rolls Royce-sponsored University Technology Centre (UTC) in advanced materials.
• The National Centre for Product Development (Cardiff) has designed a leading edge steering column for TRW.
• The Materials Centre of Excellence at Swansea University has played the co-ordinating role in INTCAST - Integrated Approach to the Design and Manufacture of Volume Produced Cast Aluminium Components – part of the UK Foresight vehicle programme involving major manufacturers, including Landrover UK.
• The Civil and Computational Engineering Centre (also at Swansea University) pioneered finite element analysis, including super plastic forming, and is one of the leaders in computational fluid dynamics.

“The resource available in Wales, the strength of the automotive cluster and supply chain, along with the first rate academic research departments, and level of support we have been afforded, has persuaded us that we can not only design and develop the Type D here – but assemble it too”
Tony Martindale, Programme Director, Connaught Group